A Different Life
by Lady Callista
Summary: Starts during S4's "Who Are You?" What if in addition to discovering that Buffy and Faith had switched bodies Willow also discovered Buffy had been cloned? The Scoobies must figure out who cloned her and where the real Slayer is. B
1. A Misplaced Soul

A Different Life

By Lady Callista

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss, the WB, Mutant Enemy, (the evil)FOX, and whoever else came up with them.

Timeline: starts during S4's "Who Are You?" and continues from there

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Author's Notes:

This story was written circa 2002 in response to a challenge from a friend, I'll post the challenge at the end of the fic. It's not my usual style, but it was an interesting challenge.

Warning: If you like Riley you might not want to read this. He's completely OOC for reasons you will understand if you do read this. And let's just say he's not a nice guy.

Warning 2: Although this starts during S4's "Who Are You?" it completely deviates from the canon after that, meaning several characters have very different personalities and the Initiative is even worse than it is on the show. Like most of my stories, it cannot be inserted into the show and have the show still work out the same way. I know that's true of almost all fanfiction, but one reader of one of my stories felt the need to private message me, telling me that if I'm going to write something midway through the series that changes how things are going to happen afterwards I should mention that at the beginning. I'm not sure why, because as I said almost all fanfiction does that, but I digress. Consider it mentioned.

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Tara watched Willow closely. Willow had been under a long time, and Tara was beginning to worry. The girl was deeply in trance, deep into the other world looking for answers to what had happened to her friend. If they couldn't find them...

Suddenly, Willow started awake. She sat up, looking around the room shakily. "Whoa..."

"Are you okay?" Tara asked quickly, getting her something to drink.

Willow took it gratefully and took a sip. After a second, she spoke. "Well, you were right. It's not Buffy. Somehow, her and Faith have switched bodies. Faith's soul is trapped in our friend's body while Buffy's soul is trapped in Faith's body."

"Wow. That wasn't nearly what I thought had happened, that...wow."

"But there's more. The Buffy I've been living with the past months, that's not Buffy either. Cause I sensed Buffy's aura in two places. A very weak one in Faith's body and her true soul in her own body somewhere else. But Faith's full aura is definitely in Buffy's body, so somehow Faith is switched with a clone or something and the real Buffy is who knows where. Who knows how long it's been like this..."

"Well, when did she start acting differently? Not Faith-like, just not acting like herself." Tara asked.

"I'm not sure. I haven't hung out with her much…" Willow trailed off as she went into panic mode. "Oh, gods, I've been such a bad friend. Someone kidnapped Buffy, someone must have taken her and replaced her and I didn't even notice, I've just been living my life, la, la, la, without even knowing that my best friend…"

"Calm down, Willow." Tara said as she took both of the girl's hands. "We need to fix this. Somehow. Just think, when did she start acting differently?"

"Thanksgiving, I guess. After she came back from L.A. I thought it was just something with Angel. But whoever took her must have gotten her on the way back; I figured it was Angel related, and pretty much left her alone after that. Plus, she was almost never here, she was always with Riley..."

"Riley? Do you think it was his group that did this?" Tara offered hesitantly.

"The Initiative? But Buffy said they were trying to have her killed. Well, Professor Walsh was at least. They wouldn't do that if she was a clone working with them. Goddess, this doesn't make any sense." Willow closed her eyes in defeat.

"We need help."

"Yes, we do. We've gotta go to Gile's. He's experienced enough with magick that he'll believe us, and maybe he can help us figure this whole thing out. First things first though. We've gotta get Faith and clone Buffy back in their right bodies. Then we can worry about finding the real Buffy."

With those words, Willow and Tara headed out the door to find Giles.

When Tara and Willow reached Giles's house, they were glad to find him alone.

Willow quickly explained the situation to him, upon which he simply stared at her in puzzlement.

"You're certain of this?"

"Yes, I am. Of course if you don't believe me, you can always go to the Other World yourself..."

"No, no, of course I believe you." Giles quickly cut in. "It's just that I've never heard of anything like this. The body switching thing, yes, I have a rather simple spell that can reverse that."

Both girls sighed in relief.

"But as for what you call clone-Buffy, I have no clue what to do." Giles pulled off his glasses, absently cleaning them as he tried to think of what to do. "Of course, our first duty is to get Faith in Buffy's body to come here. Once she's here we'll have to somehow knock her out to perform the spell. We only need one of them to perform the spell I have in mind. Then Faith will be back in her real body, under arrest, and we'll have our clone-Buffy, which has to be better than Faith at least. So, we switch them back, and then not a word to "Buffy" that we know she's a clone. If she finds out who knows what she'll do. We'll need to watch her very closely however to try and find out who she's working with. Once we find that out we'll know where the real Buffy is."

Willow looked at him with a blank stare for a moment, still processing everything that he had said. Then it all clicked in to place and she said, "Okay, that sounds like it will work. What about Xander and An..."

"No." Giles said firmly. "Don't tell either of them. Or Spike. The less people that know about the clone thing the less chance there is of somebody slipping up. There's no way they could help us anyway."

"Okay, I guess. But what about..."

"No one Willow."

"But there's someone who could help." She nearly yelled.

"Who?" Giles was afraid he knew what she was going to say.

"Angel." Willow said simply. "He's always been able to sense her. Maybe he could help us find the real Buffy. Plus you know how upset he'll be if we don't tell him..."

"But won't t-the clone Buffy react to seeing him? C-cause they broke-up, right?" Tara asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, they did." Willow said. "But he's been in town before without her knowing. And that was the real Buffy. If she didn't even know when he was around, it should be relatively easy to hide him from the clone. Of course we'll have to hide him from Xander and Spike as well."

"Well, he can stay here." Giles offered. Willow knew how much it took for him to offer that. "It'll be easier to hide him. None of you ever go upstairs, he can stay in the extra room up there."

"Yeah, that would be perfect. I'm gonna call him now." Willow went into the other room and dialed a phone number from memory. Angel had given it to her in case of an emergency, and since she didn't want Buffy to find it laying around she had memorized it.

"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."

"Cordy, it's Willow. Is Angel there?"

"Yeah, sure Willow. Is everything okay?"

"Not by a long shot."

Cordelia handed the phone to Angel, who had charged over to the desk as soon as he heard Willow's name. "Willow? What's wrong?"

Willow explained everything to him, including how they hoped he could help.

He listened attentively, growing more concerned by the second. He told her that he'd be in Sunnydale as soon as he could be.

She reminded him to go to Giles's apartment, but to check first and make sure clone-Buffy wasn't there.

He agreed and hung up. Quickly explaining the situation to Wesley and Cordelia, he grabbed the bag he kept packed for emergencies and headed for Sunnydale and his soulmate.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Well, "Buffy" is on her way." Giles said after hanging up the phone an hour or so later. "She seemed rather surprised that we wanted her now, something about she had plans with Riley, but she's coming."

"I can just imagine what Faith's been doing with Riley. Buffy's so going to kill her." Willow said.

"Well, clone Buffy will kill her. The real Buffy b-barely knows Riley, remember?" Tara told her.

"That's true." Willow said thoughtfully. "So much more stuff makes sense now, you know. I couldn't believe how fast Buffy got over Angel and all, I mean she just jumped right in with Riley. But it makes so much sense if it's not really her. But the clone's gotta have all of her memories, otherwise it wouldn't be able to fool us. Granted, she's not around very much, but when she is..."

"When who is?" Faith in Buffy's body asked from the door.

"Buffy!" Willow jerked up ramrod straight and stammered, "Uhh..."

"Just a-another girl f-f-from that W-wicca-group." Tara cut her off. "We're t-trying to find a few ot-others to help us w-w-with spells, but..."

"Yeah, whatever." Faith cut the stuttering girl off. "You wanted me Giles?" She walked toward the Watcher.

He gave a slight nod to Willow, who moved into position behind Faith as she removed something from behind a chair.

"Yes Buffy, we have a new problem, if you could come look at this." He sat on the couch and put a book on the coffee table in such a manner that Faith sat across from him to see it. This gave Willow the clearest shot she could have.

She raised the gun to eye level, aimed it as she had been forced to do several times, and shot the tranquilizer dart into the Slayer's shoulder.

Faith felt the impact and jolted upright. Before she could even make a comment she was out cold. Giles caught her as she fell forward, laying her down on the couch.

"Now, quickly. The tranquilizer will only last for an hour or so with the small amount we put in. We must work quickly to complete the spell before she wakes up."

Willow and Tara nodded, removing the items that had been hidden for the Slayer's arrival. They placed the magickal objects in their places in a circle around the couch where Faith/Buffy lay.

Then the three of them knelt around the circle and began the spell to restore clone-Buffy and Faith to their proper bodies.

They called a circle and Quarters together, then Willow began an invocation:

"Hail almightly Hecate, Queen of all Witches.

We invite you to come to us tonight.

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are under your control.

These four elements bring balance to the world.

We need your balance now.

Help us to right a great wrong."

Tara continued:

"Goddess Hecate, we feel your presence now.

We know that you are with us and protect us.

We call upon you for justice.

All things must be set right.

We ask for your power now.

Help us to right a great wrong."

Giles picked up the chant:

"Great Hecate, our thanks for your presence.

We invoke now a consort for you.

Great Baldar, God of truth and light, come to us.

Shine your light upon our problems.

You know all truths, and know of our problem.

Bring your truth to these girls."

All three of them took up the chant now, in Latin, holding candles up to the heavens.

"Hecate, Baldar, we feel your power now.

Every soul has a body. Every body a soul.

Let truth and justice have free reign in this circle.

Return all misplaced souls to their proper places.

Seek out where this soul belongs.."

Willow placed a talisman over Faith/Buffy's heart.

"And return it.

Let the soul that belongs here return now.

Return!"

The three candles they held abruptly went out. They saw a flash of bright light around the Slayer's body, then it left. A moment later, a very dim light settled into Buffy's body.

"See, it's just a fragment of her soul. It was stolen to help give her personality is all I can think. But it's not really her." Willow whispered, noting how dim "Buffy's" soul was.

The others nodded in agreement, quickly going about thanking and bidding farewell to the powers they had called. Then they closed the circle together.

"Let this circle be cleansed in the physical

But remain in the astral.

In no way shall this spell reverse.

Or place upon us any curse.

With love towards all and harm to none

This is our will let it be done."

They then settled back to wait for clone-Buffy to wake up, wondering exactly what they were going to do now.


	2. Initiative Lackey

A Different Life

By Lady Callista

Part 2

About an hour later, after the tranquilizer had worn off and Giles had explained to her what happened, Buffy left Giles's house in order to patrol.

She knew that something wasn't right at his house anyway, and she might as well leave for all they were telling her. It was strange, she thought as she headed towards the cemeteries, they'd never hidden things from her before. But Willow wouldn't even meet her eyes, and Giles had seemed to be pumping her for information about something. As she hunted, she wondered what was wrong with them.

Suddenly, Buffy heard a noise off to her left. She whirled, stake at the ready. And abruptly pulled it back when she saw who stood there.

"Hey, honey." She said, giving Riley a kiss.

"Buffy." He replied, "How's it going?"

"Well, no vamps so far. But I just got out here. Look, if I did anything weird in the past few days..."

"Well, you have been acting a little off."

"Yeah, well, Faith -rouge Slayer, remember?- she kinda switched bodies with me. Willow and Giles just got done switching us back. So anything that happened, well..."

Riley thought of making love with her...correction, with Faith, but said nothing of it. "No Buffy, nothing happened. I've barely seen you in the past few days. But maybe I should have our doctors check you out. You know, just to be sure that nothing went wrong during the switch and all."

"No Riley, I really don't need..."

"But Buffy..."

"Look Riley, the Initiative was trying to kill me a few weeks ago. Or at least Maggie was. I really don't want to go back in there. I know you say they won't hurt me, but still, I..."

"Buffy Summers. You are having our doctors check you out. Now."

"Okay Riley. Let's go." Buffy said as she realized it would be easier to go along with him than to keep arguing.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Back at Giles's house, Willow, Tara, and Giles were talking earnestly, trying to work out in their minds exactly when Buffy had been taken and by whom.

"The weird thing is, she was acting so normal right now." Willow said. "When you were trying to probe her for information, when I didn't know how to talk to her, it really bothered her. It's like she suspected we were keeping stuff from her and it hurt her."

"Couldn't all that b-be acting?" Tara asked.

"I suppose, but she just seemed so right. Like it really was her. But we all saw that it wasn't really her soul, and I know what I saw in the Other World."

"Perhaps she is simply a good actor." Giles put in. "After all, if the clone was given a piece of Buffy's soul, it knows everything about her. It knows how she's supposed to act and that's what it does. Maybe the clone simply picked up on the vibes in the room and knew it had to put in a smashing performance to make us wonder."

"That's possible I suppose. It would help if we had Angel's opinion, but for that he'd have to talk to Buffy and that wouldn't be a good thing." Willow thought out loud.

"Or it might be." A voice said from the door.

"Angel! Hi!" Willow chirped, standing up and walking over to the vampire. She stood there for a second, then put her arms around him in a quick hug.

After a slight hesitation, he hugged her back, whispering, "It's gonna be okay Willow."

She pulled away, smiling bravely, "I know it is." She whispered, sounding very unsure.

"Angel." Giles greeted him. "This is Tara, she's a friend of Willow's."

"Hi." Tara said shyly.

"Tara, Giles." Angel greeted them. "Have you figured anything out yet?"

"Well, we've decided that Buffy must have been taken sometime before she came back from seeing you in LA at Thanksgiving. What we need to know is: can you be certain that it was the real Buffy that came to see you? And not the clone? Cause then we'll know if she was taken as she was leaving or as she was coming back." Giles told Angel as he indicated for him to take a seat.

"It was the real Buffy." Angel thought back to the day that never had been. "There's no way she could have fooled me."

"Are you sure?" Willow asked timidly. "After all, she said she was only there for a few minutes..."

"Yeah, well, trust me when I say there's more to it than that. I can't go into it, but let's just say I'm 100 sure that the girl that came to me the day after Thanksgiving was my Buffy." The term "my" slipped out before Angel could even think about it.

If any of the others noticed, they didn't say anything.

"Well, okay then." Giles said. "So she was taken on her way back into Sunnydale then. I would have said before that the best candidate was the Initiative, but they've been trying to kill her as of late, so I doubt they're the ones who made the clone. It wouldn't make sense to try and kill it."

"Could it be this Adam..." Angel asked.

Giles thought of asking him how he knew about Adam and the Initiative, but thought better of it. Angel had obviously been keeping tabs on Sunnydale and Buffy just in case she needed help.

"If it had happened recently, yes. But Adam wasn't activated until a few weeks ago. And if this happened a few days after Thanksgiving..."

"You're right. It couldn't have been him. But there's no other major-evil guys in Sunnydale. And there's none in LA that would have known who Buffy was to take her. This whole thing doesn't make sense..." Angel was very frustrated.

"Well, what we were hoping to do is keep Buffy under surveillance."

"Giles means he wants us all to spy on her. Keep track of her and see if she sees anyone unusual or goes anyplace Buffy wouldn't. We have to find out who did this and why, and get Buffy back, before we can fight them."

"Yes, Willow, thank you for explaining that. As I was saying, whoever kidnapped Buffy took a huge risk. And they obviously have a ton of technology to be able to clone her so exactly. So they are most likely a huge danger to us. We must have a great deal more information before we act."

"Well, I'll go find her now and keep track of her." Angel offered. "Willow, can you stick by her during the day? Cause if she stays on campus that should be easy enough. If she doesn't, maybe you could call Xander and have him..."

"Xander doesn't know about this. Neither do Spike or Anya." Giles interrupted. "We thought that the fewer people knew, the less chance there would be of someone slipping."

"Well, okay. What about...Tara was it?"

The girl nodded.

"How well does Buffy know you?"

"Well, I introduced them when it was really Faith, so all she knows of her is from about a half-hour ago. She's only seen her this once, and simply knows that she's a witch who helped us bring her back to normal." Willow told Angel.

"So she wouldn't be suspicious of Tara following her? She'd just think it was a coincidence."

"Probably." Tara said quietly.

"Well, if she leaves campus before the sun goes down, can you track her?" Angel asked.

"Yes, I could. I could e-even use magick so she'd have a lesser c-chance of seeing me."

"Okay, great." Angel said. "Here's my cell number." Angel gave it to both girls. "I'll call Willow from it when Buffy's returning your dorm, and whichever of you is tailing her when the sun goes down call me with it so I'll know where to find you. I'll be staying..."

"You'll be staying here." Giles cut in. "We need you close to the action, plus then you can observe Buffy when she's here."

"Giles, that's very kind of you, but..."

"No buts. You're staying in the spare room upstairs. None of the kids ever go up there anyway."

"I...thank you." Angel felt rather strange about it, but he knew under the circumstances it really would be easiest.

Giles said nothing, merely nodded his head.

"Well, I'm going to go and find her now. There's still a few hours till sunrise." Angel said, looking around the room. They all nodded and wished him luck.

Angel turned and walked out the door, black duster trailing behind him. He needed to find the clone someone had made of the love of his unlife. And he had a strong urge to let his demon have it's way with that someone.

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Buffy left the Initiative a little while later, after the doctors there had given her a long examination. She thought back to all that they had done and was shocked to realize she didn't remember her whole time there. She was almost positive that they had drugged her, at least for a few minutes. But why would they do that? The little voice in her head asked her. What good would that do them?

She shrugged off the feeling of distrust and turned to Riley. "There're vampires just ahead." She said, her spider-sense tingling.

He immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie and pushed the button, "Lilac to team two. Team two, this is Lilac, over."

"Team two, Rose here. What's the problem? Over."

"Hostiles in sector 6, over." Riley said, looking down at a readout on a different machine.

"We're on our way. Out."

Riley and Buffy headed towards the vamps, knowing they'd be backed up.

Riley suddenly turned to the Slayer. "Buffy Summers. Remember this is a capture-mission. Don't kill any of the vamps, they all need to be captured alive and brought back to the Initiative."

"Okay Riley." She responded as they jogged.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Angel watched from the distance as the clone jogged side by side with a commando-dude.

He saw them heading into some vamps and went closer, putting himself in a position to help them if they ran into trouble.

Buffy and Riley knocked down the first few vamps easily, Riley stunning them with something that looked like it came off of Star Trek.

Angel suddenly noticed a few vamps sneaking up behind them while they were too busy with the first dozen to notice. He moved in to help.

Just then, the whole of team two burst onto the scene, firing those ray-gun-things at everything without a high body temperature. Angel felt one of the guns hit him and he went down, unable to move.

When all the fighting was done the commandos began to pick up all the vampires, carrying them through the underbrush and back to the Initiative's secret entrance.

It was then that Buffy saw Angel. She went over to him and stood looking down at him. The expression on her face was one of concern and love. "Angel?" She whispered.

He could have sworn it was really his Buffy.

Just then, Riley came up behind her. "Buffy Summers. Pick up that vampire and carry him back, just like all the others are doing."

Buffy looked at him, then looked back to Angel.

"Angel??..." Buffy whispered again, sounding more unsure this time.

"Buffy Summers. That is not an angel. I don't know what you think right now, but it's only a vampire. Now carry it back to base." Riley ordered.

"Okay Riley." She repeated. "It's only a vampire."

And with that comment, she picked Angel up, slung him over her shoulder and headed the way of the other commandos.

It was in that instant that he knew this was truly a clone. Her first reaction to seeing him had him 99 convinced that it was really Buffy, but no way would Buffy be taking orders from anyone. And he was pretty sure that Buffy was too strong to be brainwashed, whereas maybe a clone of her wouldn't be.

Still, the fact that even a clone so brainwashed as she appeared to be still recognized him and for a second, disobeyed orders for him, was more than enough to reinforce the fact that he and Buffy had a link none could sever.

His entire body was still numb, he couldn't even speak, so he hung limply over her shoulder as he was carried into what he assumed was the Initiative.

But there was still one question burning in his mind: If the Initiative was controlling clone Buffy, why were they trying to kill her?

TBC…


	3. The Real Buffy

_A Different Life_

_By Lady Callista_

Part 3

Back at Giles, the three others who knew of clone-Buffy were still stuck on that same question. Since the Initiative had been trying to kill her, who was it that had made her? It couldn't have been them…

"But who else could it be?" Willow asked again the question they always seemed to come back to.

"No one that we know of. But the Initiative would not be working so hard to thwart or kill their own clone. So it must be someone else." Giles said again.

"Not necessarily." Tara said.

Willow and Giles both looked at the girl. She had been silent for the past several minutes, obviously deep in thought.

"Go on." Giles prompted.

"What if they're not trying to kill her? What if they're just pretending to want her dead? They must know the strength of a Slayer and that nothing they've thrown at her has been a match for her. What if she's just playing along with them and acting all upset." Tara spoke slowly, still thinking it out.

"To what end?" Giles wanted to know.

"To the very end we're at now. So that even if we did figure out that she was not really Buffy, we'd be so sure that it wasn't the Initiative's doing. So that none of our suspicions would be on them."

"I must admit that makes a great deal of sense." Giles conceded.

"It sure does." Willow agreed. "It's just hard to believe that a clone of Buffy's that good an actress. I've almost never seen her look so upset or worried as she has been a few times in the past weeks."

"But what if all that _WAS_ just acting?" Tara asked.

"It is possible, it is possible." Giles repeated to himself. "But if she's really _THAT _good, what chance to we stand of finagling the truth out of her?"

The girls just looked at him. It was a very good question.

If clone-Buffy was that good of an actress and sly enough to have pulled this off for months, how would they ever get enough of the truth out of her to find the real Buffy?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Angel didn't need to worry about finding the real Buffy. He was pretty sure she was somewhere in the Initiative, which was where the clone of Buffy had brought him.

He had been unceremoniously dumped into a cell, after which some kind of field had been activated to keep him in. His shirt had been ripped off, not by Buffy but by some commando who came in to check on him, and the tattoo on his back had been noticed immediately. They were now checking to see what it meant. He was sure it would mean they would discover that he was Angelus, and wasn't looking forward to being treated as they would treat his demon.

"Angelus. Human name was Liam O'Conner." One of the Initiative's scientists read from a book. "The Scourge of Europe. Sired almost 250 years ago in Ireland. There's no record of him for the past 40 years or so however. But he is undoubtedly the fiercest and most violent vampire still alive in this day."

"This could be the perfect vampire to use for the test." Another scientist responded.

"Yes, it could be. Ask Agent Finn if he thinks we should use him."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Meanwhile, Riley had clone-Buffy in by the doctors again. And she was out cold.

"I'm not sure what happened, but for a second she disobeyed a direct order. There's no way her programming should allow her to do that." Riley was furious. "If her gang finds out what we've done, this could jeopardize everything we've worked for."

"Well, there's nothing I can do. We've already brainwashed this clone more than a normal human could handle. You just have to make sure to reinforce it daily and everything should remain fine."

"Very well." Riley said as Buffy began to wake up.

"What? What happened?" She asked.

Riley looked down at her gently. "One of the demons we captured knocked you out. It almost killed you. We had to save you and carry you back here."

'Carry me?' Buffy thought to herself. 'But I thought I remembered carrying someone...'

"Buffy Summers."

She looked at Riley, fully attentive.

"There were no vampires to be found tonight. We hunted a demon, which hurt and almost killed you. If any of your friends ask, just tell them that a demon hurt you but you're fine. Don't mention that you're still working with the Initiative."

"Okay Riley." Buffy said quickly.

"Now go home. We don't need you anymore tonight."

Buffy nodded, gave Riley a quick kiss, and left the Initiative just as a scientist came up to Riley.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

An hour later, Angel was "escorted" at gunpoint out of his cell by none other than Riley Finn.

"Well, vampire, we'll see if you're still fierce enough to kill a Slayer."

Angel looked at him strangely, but said nothing. They obviously didn't know about his curse. As he had feared, they thought he was Angelus.

But he wasn't going to argue about it. Because he knew that they were taking him to Buffy.

He reverted to his game-face, hoping to fool Riley. It worked.

"Great." The guy said. "Let's see what you can do: There will be no one in the room with you. No one will help you or the Slayer. You will each have one stake, all that should be needed to kill the other. There are no windows, no doors. Only the opening in the ceiling which you will be dropped through. No cameras, no nothing. Whichever of you kills the other and makes it up the hole in the ceiling will be let free. That is all."

Angel looked at him and growled deeply. He saw no point whatsoever to this contest. He was positive there was no way the winner would be released.

"She knows these rules just as you do. You will be dropped in together, no advantages. Neither of you have ever seen the room before this. Any questions?"

"What's her name?" Angel asked, almost positive of the answer but needing to be sure. The plan he was forming depended on it.

"Summers." Riley said. "Buffy Summers."

"What about me Finn?" An angry voice asked from behind him.

"Oh, just telling your opponent who he's going to face." Riley answered smugly, turning so that they were face to face.

Angel found himself face to face with Buffy. His Buffy.

Her clothes were dirty and torn, her face smudged with dirt. Her hair, once so shiny, lay dull against her head. She was thinner than before, too thin.

And yet he still thought she was beautiful.

His love for her showed for a fraction of a second, then he shut it down and growled low at her. "Hello lover." He said sarcastically. "I'm back."

He knew she would be to much in shock to go along with pretending they didn't know each other or pretending that he was evil, so he simply made her think he was. Or course, his plan depended on her not being brainwashed. If she was brainwashed like her clone, he was dead. And he had no way to tell.

"Angel?" She whispered.

"Why do you girls call him that?" Riley screamed. "How do you know him?"

Buffy scarcely heard him. "No." She said, louder this time. "Angelus." Her face turned cold, her eyes hard.

His heart broke at seeing her, knowing she truly believed it and only imagining what she must be going through. It wasn't even that she knew her Angel was gone. It was that she knew the condition of his curse, and it would hurt her more than he could imagine to know that someone other than her had made Angelus come forth.

"Yeah Buff, it's me. Ugly-guy here tells me we're gonna go through a little fight. Rematch time, huh?"

"I'll kill you this time." She said.

"How do you know each other?"

"It doesn't matter Finn. Just know that we want each other dead. Now put us in." Buffy answered.

Riley still looked confused, which Angel was realizing was a normal state for him, but then he shrugged. "Doesn't matter I suppose. Whichever one of you wins will tell me before I let you free. Now fight."

And with those words, he uncuffed both of them and pushed them into the room.

They hit the floor hard, Buffy on top of Angel.

He pushed her off, throwing her away and against a wall, inwardly hoping he wasn't hurting her physically.

Riley laughed as he shut the door. "I shouldn't have said we wouldn't watch." He groaned. "This has to be the fight of a lifetime."

As soon as the door closed, Angel stepped back, putting his hands up. His face went back to normal.

"Buffy, stop. It's really me."

She just glared at him and headed forward, stake in hand. "Sure it is lover."

Angel backed away, trying to think of a way to convince her before his little plan got him staked.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Giles and Willow were still researching hours later when there was a frantic knock on the door. Giles looked over at the sleeping Tara and got up quickly to get the door before it woke her.

"Cordelia? Wesley!" He said in shock as he let them both in. "What is going on?"

"That's what I wanna know!" Cordelia said loudly, obviously upset. "Who captured Buffy and Angel? What are they fighting about? And why aren't you out there looking for them?"

"What are you talking about?" Giles asked her. "Angel has not been captured by anyone. Buffy was however, but that was months ago. It turns out we've been living with a clone all this time. And I'm certain the clone and Angel are not fighting because she doesn't even know he's here."

"Well, I'm telling you Angel's been captured! And I saw them fighting, not yelling; I mean punching and throwing against walls and everything."

"Cordelia, that is not..."

"Giles..." Willow came up behind him. "She may be right. About him being captured at least. Look at the time."

He looked at his watch and was amazed at how long they had been researching. It was several hours past sunrise. Several hours...

"He should have called us by now. He can't be following her, he'd need me or Tara to have taken over at sunrise." Willow confirmed.

"Cordelia, Wesley, please come in and have a seat." He quickly brought them up to speed, then asked, "So, Cordelia, tell me exactly what you saw."

Cordelia explained that she had seen army-like guys capture Angel, then she had seen both him and Buffy in a dark room, fighting each other. She had also seen two Buffys standing side by side.

"Standing side by side?" Giles questioned. "As if they were fighting together? Now how in the world would that happen?"

Nobody had an answer for that one.

TBC……


	4. Escape Plan

A Different Life

By Lady Callista

_Part 4_

In the little room at the Initiative, Buffy and Angel faced off.

"No, Buffy, stop. It's really me. I just needed them to think I wasn't good. They didn't know about the curse, and..." Angel told her with a steady voice.

"How'd it happen this time Angel?" Buffy asked in a broken voice. "Who made you happy?" She had stopped stalking toward him, but still held her stake at the ready.

"No one. I haven't been happy since the day I left you." He admitted painfully.

The stake dropped several inches as she heard the pain in his voice. "Then you shouldn't have left."

"I thought it would be better for you. Having a normal life. Oh, baby, I didn't know this was going to happen to you. I keep thinking if I had been here..." Angel admitted.

Buffy let the stake fall lower. "It's not your fault Angel. It's mine. I was so out of it by everything that happened between us. Seeing you, being with you, all my feelings came back full force. I was just so out of it that I was easy pray for them."

"I'm so sorry about that day...what happened that day." He admitted, quickly correcting himself. "It hurt so much to see you and then have you walk out of my life again. I wish we could at least be friends."

"You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both." Buffy echoed Spike's words to them. "Maybe he's right. Maybe we're gonna die here."

"We're not gonna die. I've got a plan. But it counts on you trusting me. Friends?" He asked in an odd tone of voice.

She knew they couldn't be friends, not unless...

Buffy dropped the stake and walked closer, looking directly in his eyes. "Tell me that you don't love me." She whispered, echoing her words from last year as a test.

He looked into her eyes, letting all his love for her show. He countered with a question he had asked last year, avoiding her statement. "Are you still my girl?"

She looked at him in silence.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Meanwhile, clone-Buffy left the Initiative and walked towards her dorm.

_Tell them it was a demon..._

She heard it over and over in her head. And yet, something deep down told her that it hadn't been a demon. She was haunted by a face. By memories.

She didn't remember what had happened, but she knew it wasn't what Riley had told her. For the first time, she didn't trust him. She thought that something was wrong.

She had to get to Giles and find out what was going on.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Angel held the look and took a step closer to her, awaiting an answer.

When she finally said it, it was almost to soft for him to hear. "Always."

She dropped the stake then and moved quickly to him, holding him tightly. "You found me. Thank God someone found me. I'd given up..."

"Shhh...it's okay. It's gonna be okay." He said as she had started crying softly.

"Angel, they...they cloned me. After that day in LA, before I got back here, they grabbed me. They cloned me, and they sent the clone out to live my life. But she's brainwashed, she's under their complete control."

Angel didn't move. "What did you say?"

"They cloned me, and..."

"No, about LA. You said, after..."

"After that day." She finished.

"But you..."

"I've never lied to you, have I?" She countered. "I told you I'd never forget, and I didn't."

"But they said..."

"Yeah, well somehow the oracles messed up, cause I remember it all. I didn't at first, so the clone doesn't remember--I don't think; but now I do. It's those memories that have gotten me through this."

He held her tighter then, kissing her gently on the lips.

She returned his kiss then, only pulling away a moment later because she had to finish telling him what had happened. "Angel, listen to me. How much do the others know?"

"That you were kidnapped sometime after Thanksgiving and cloned. But they don't know who has you or for what purpose."

"Well, the purpose is they're trying to figure out why I'm so strong. How I got this way. They're also testing my limits. They hope that whatever they find out can be used to make their own boys even stronger and more deadly." Buffy quickly explained what she'd learned in the months she'd been here. "And their partly using my clone to help them do it. The problem is, from what Finn's said, she doesn't know it. She's brainwashed in such a way that she forgets about anything she helps the Initiative do. All Finn has to do is say her full name and then give her a command. She follows it without question."

"But the gang are on to her now. They're gonna hide everything they can from her and get to the bottom o..." Angel began to say, only to be cut off.

"That's the problem with this. That's what I've been trying to say. From what I've overheard and what I've been told directly, I know why this is working so well. Why she could convince everyone that she was really Buffy..."

"Why?" Angel asked, already knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"Because she really thinks she is." Buffy said. "It's not a clone programmed to act like Buffy Summers, it's a real person who thinks she IS Buffy. And since she thinks like me, I can just imagine what she'll do if the gang are leaving her out and pumping her for information. Do you know how hurt she's gonna be that they don't trust her anymore?"

"I can imagine."

"We've gotta get out of here, and fast. Then we need to find the gang and explain everything that's going on. Maybe if we can find my clone and explain things, we can get her to join us. Cause she's really not evil. And I think I may be able to undo some of the brainwashing just by letting her know the truth."

"I can help with that too." Angel said. "Cause the second she saw me, I saw love in her eyes. It clouded over when Finn gave an order, but it still took her a moment to follow that order. I think some part of our connection is in her, maybe that can help bring her over to our side."

"I hope so. Now, you said before that you had a plan. What do we have to do?" Buffy asked.

They sat down together as Angel began to outline his plan for escape.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Meanwhile, clone-Buffy was approaching Giles's place. She heard talking from inside and stopped by the window a moment to listen.

"But how can we find out for sure?" Willow asked.

"Well, could you and Tara work a locator spell? Cause we need to find where in the Initiative the real her is before we can even try and come up with a plan for rescuing her." Giles said.

"I think we could." Tara, the witch friend of Willow's, answered. "But we'd have to be careful that the spell finds her and not the clone."

"That wouldn't be too hard though." Willow replied.

"Okay, then, that's good. And is it possible to do a locator spell on Angel as well?" Giles asked.

Buffy looked up at the window in shock. 'Angel? What's wrong with Angel?'

"Yeah, it's actually easier cause he's a vampire. I've practiced lots of spells for them." Willow said.

"Good, because we have to find him and help him." Another voice answered. It sounded like Cordelia, Buffy realized. But it couldn't be. She was in LA...

"Yes, we can't just..."

At hearing Wesley's voice, Buffy's control snapped. She opened the door to Giles's and stood in the doorway, glaring down at everyone.

"Okay, who's been cloned? Where's Angel? And what the hell is going on?"

They all looked at her in shock. She could see their minds working.

"Don't waste time trying to make things up." She yelled. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Bu...Buffy." Willow stammered. "We...nothing. We're not hiding anything. Just a friend of Angel's was cloned, and needs help, and..."

"Don't lie to me!" Buffy snapped.

"I'm not, I..."

"It's not just a friend of Angel's. It's someone you all know. Otherwise you wouldn't be so upset. Why are you guys not telling me? What is the huge secret that everyone's trying to hide?" Buffy asked.

"There is no secret." Giles said firmly. "We just didn't feel that you were..."

"What? Needed? You don't need a Slayer for this one, huh? Think bringing up any mention of Angel will make me, what? Go nuts? Well, let me tell you something..." Buffy started towards them.

"Someone do something. She's lost it." Cordelia yelled.

Buffy turned on the brunette. "I have not lost anything! You've all betrayed me. You're hiding things from me, and you're lying to me, and I know you're not my friends. You've all been acting too weird, ever since you changed me and Faith back. Maybe it's you who are the clones! Cause you sure aren't my friends!" She took a menacing step towards Cordy, but the girl shrank back.

Wesley blocked her path. "Leave her alone. I don't know who you are, but..."

"It's me, you British ass!" Buffy yelled. "Buffy! Hello? Earth to the ex-Watcher! It's your own Slayer that you're not trusting!"

"No, it's not you. Buffy would never act like this."

"Well, none of my friends would ever act like this either. What are you all..." Buffy broke off suddenly, turning to face Tara and Willow. "What did you...ahhhhh..." She fell to the floor, unconscious.

"What did you do?" Giles asked in shock as the clone dropped to the floor.

"Sleep spell." The girls said together.

"It'll only last a few minutes though. We need to get her tied up. And we need some more of that tranquilizer stuff." Willow added.

"Yes, yes of course." Giles went to get the tranquilizer and put it into a shot, which he quickly gave to the unconscious clone-Slayer. Then him and Wesley got out some ropes and chains and put her in a chair in the middle of the room.

"We should keep her unconscious, however." Giles said. "I'm fairly certain that if she was awake and at full strength that those chains would not hold her, especially as mad as she is."

The others agreed, setting a timer to make sure they'd know when to give her another shot.

They then set back to puzzle Buffy's words.

Why had she gotten so upset? She was a clone, programmed to do whatever the heck it was her creators wanted her to do.

And yet, why hadn't she come to the obvious conclusion upon hearing the word "clone" that they knew she was a clone? Why hadn't she just admitted to it and tried to kill them all? Or gone back to whoever had created her and let them know that the Scooby gang knew?

Why had she just put on an Oscar-winning performance to convince them that she was Buffy?

The worst part of it was that they knew, without a doubt, that if they hadn't been certain it wasn't the real Buffy, they would have believed everything the clone said. They would have believed 100 that she was really Buffy. And that could have lead to disaster. How had she been programmed so accurately? By who? And for what reason?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So, what do you think?" Angel asked Buffy when he was done explaining his plan.

"Well, anywhere else it would never work. But these guys are all pretty much blockheads unless they're following orders, so it should be pretty easy." Buffy said slowly as she thought it over. "And Finn won't be down here right now because he's in class, so we don't have to worry about him, and he's the major one who would be giving orders."

"Well, you want to go now? Cause the sooner we get out of here and get back to Giles the better off we'll be." Angel asked her.

Buffy nodded and gave him a quick kiss. "For luck." She whispered.

He pulled her into a much deeper and longer kiss. "Just because." He whispered a few minutes later.

She looked at him, feeling slightly giddy. "Ready?" He nodded.

They moved over, getting themselves underneath the hatch in the ceiling. Angel bent down and locked his hands together. She put one foot in the stirrup his hands made and set her hands on his shoulders. "One...two...three."

On three, she used her other foot to help push herself up at the same time he lifted her. As soon as she was high enough, she raised her arms above her head, ready to push on the door.

His hands continued to lift her up, and she contacted with the door. She pushed on it and felt it lifting up. Angel gave her one final push, and she combined it with her strength to jump up out of the hole.

She landed hard, just to the side of the hole. And was immediately seized by two guards. She looked around quickly, and noted that there were no other guards around. Perfect.

"Bet you guys never thought you'd see me again." Buffy said. "But you should know no vampire is a match for me!"

Both guards just chuckled, saying, "Well, eventually we'll find one that is. Or we'll just drop you in there with a few of them."

"But you said I was gonna be released if I won..." Buffy pretended to pout.

"You'll never be released, you'll be here until you die." And with that, they turned and began to lead the Slayer away.

As soon as he thought their backs were turned, Angel gathered his strength and leaped out of the cell. It was much easier for him than it had been for Buffy because he didn't have to worry about the hatch.

He landed silently behind the guards. Before they even knew he was there, he had grabbed both of them by the collars and flung them backwards, away from Buffy. The Slayer quickly turned and grabbed one of them, pushing him back into the cell. Angel did the same with the other.

Both guards started screaming, but Buffy slammed the sound-proof hatch down on them before anyone else could hear.

"Quickly now, before someone sees us." Buffy said as she led Angel down the tunnel.

She got them back to the main complex, pulling him back into the shadows. "Wait here."

Buffy quickly went off, not giving Angel the time to argue.

When she returned, she held a lab coat and uniform and a set of the army-fatigues that the commandos wore.

"I found out where they keep extras." She whispered as they changed. "Remember, just give an order if anyone gets suspicious. Act all commanding. They're all so positive that no one could breach their security that it would never occur to them that we're prisoners escaping. They'll just think we're two of them."

Angel nodded, and him and Buffy left the shadows, marching into the middle of the compound. He remembered how he had been brought in, so he lead Buffy through the maze of tunnels that branched off from the main complex.

Finally, after a few run-ins with Initiative personal -who immediately left them alone when Angel ordered them to do so- they reached the secret entrance where Angel had been brought in.

"We'll have to wait here until nightfall." Buffy whispered.

"No, we can't wait that long." Angel said. "You go out and check. Maybe there's some way to get me to shelter. If not, get out and go to the others. I'll follow you as soon as the sun is down."

She nodded, not wanting to leave him but knowing she didn't really have a choice. They kissed quickly and Buffy went up to the secret entrance.

She called back a moment later, "It's okay, there's no sun. It's absolutely pouring out, the sky is just covered with black clouds."

Angel took that in. Although the sun could come out at any minute, it probably wouldn't if it was as dark as she said. He knew in this case he'd have to risk it.

Angel climbed up the tunnel to find an already drenched Buffy waiting at the top.

And she was facing off with Riley Finn.

"How the hell did you guys get out??" Riley asked. "And what are you doing together? Shouldn't one of you be DEAD?" The man was as confused as ever.

"God, you are so mentally challenged." Buffy said as Angel slipped back into the tunnel to find some kind of weapon. "He's a good vampire and he's my friend. If you knew anything about me...you're such an idiot."

Riley was about to attack her then, but Buffy got the jump on him. She almost flew at him, kicking, punching, pummeling. All the months of pent-up rage were being taken out on him.

"Buffy!" Angel called from behind her. He had emerged from the tunnel carrying a short length of pipe. It was all he could find.

As he called her name, she quickly turned and caught the pipe he tossed to her.

She whacked Riley on the head with it several times. He dropped to the ground, falling in a heap. Buffy hit him one more time just to be safe, then her and Angel dragged him over and hid him in some bushes.

He wasn't dead, but he was close. And Buffy found she didn't care.

They then took off at a dead run, knowing they had to reach the others before their escape was discovered or Riley was found.

TBC…


	5. Memories and Ideas

A Different Life

By Lady Callista

Part 5

"Wait a second, Buffy. Let me check first. If your clone's here and doesn't know yet..." Angel trailed off as Buffy nodded her agreement.

Angel peeped in the window, amazed by what he saw. The three he had left were still researching, Wesley, Xander, and Cordy were there too, and Buffy was tied to a chair and unconscious.

"Well, it's safe to say the game is up. Come on." Angel took her hand and they went into the house.

Everyone looked up as the door opened and the two came in, looking like drowned rats.

"Angel, thank the Lord." Wesley started to say. "We were so worr...Buffy?"

"Yeah guys, it's me." Buffy said slowly. "The real me." She looked at the clone in distaste.

"Buffy!" Willow screamed. She ran towards the Slayer and almost knocked her down with a huge hug. "Thank Lord and Lady you're alright." Xander was right on her heels, having been told what was going on once the cat was out of the bag.

Cordelia had almost the same reaction with Angel. She ran over to him and threw her arms around him. "You're okay! You're really okay." She then pulled away and smacked his arm. "Don't ever do that to me again. You know you were the cause of one of my little migraines?!"

"Sorry Cordy, I didn't get captured on purpose."

"Yeah, I know..."

"Buffy?" Giles broke in. "Is it really you?"

Buffy and Willow broke apart and Buffy turned to face him. "Yeah, it's really me."

"You're certain?" Giles turned to Angel. "After all, this one..." He indicated the Buffy tied to a chair, "Well, she acts exactly like Buffy too."

"Yeah, I'm sure she does. She's so brainwashed I'm surprised she can function." Buffy snorted. "Besides, she's not acting like me. She really thinks she is. She's programmed to forget all the things she does for the Initiative and to really think that she's Buffy Summers. That's why she fooled you all for so long."

"But couldn't you also be..."

"Yeah, I suppose I could be a clone too. But then why keep me locked up and experiment on me?" Buffy asked, a look of horror on her face as she remembered the things that had been done to her. "That's how I know I'm real. They wouldn't have done that to me if I was anyone but the real Slayer."

"That's why they wanted her." Angel explained. "They wanted to find out what made her so strong and all. I think they thought they could make it synthetically and make their boys even tougher."

"So this whole time, clone-Buffy has been working with them and..." Xander was cut off as Buffy turned to him.

"Don't be to hard on her Xand. She doesn't know. She's programmed not to remember..."

The conversation was interrupted by a muffled sob. Unknown to all of them, the clone Buffy had come awake almost a full minute ago and had been listening to their conversation. "You...you're lying..." She choked out.

"No, we're not." Buffy said, starting to move towards her.

Angel put a hand out to stop her. "Let me." He whispered.

Buffy locked eyes with him for a moment, then stepped back. She almost couldn't watch.

Angel slowly approached the clone of Buffy. "Buffy?"

"Angel?" She whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"You saw me yesterday. Don't you remember?"

"I was attacked by a demon yesterday. There were no vampi..." She recited.

"Yes, there were vampires. You and Riley attacked them. I tried to help and was captured by the Initiative."

"Riley said there were no vampires..." She suddenly sounded less sure of herself.

"Riley ordered you to carry me since I was paralyzed by those ray gun things." Angel continued. "You carried me to the base like you didn't even know me."

"Riley said they carried me...But I thought I remembered carrying someone. There was a face I couldn't get out of my head..." Buffy's clone said slowly.

Angel told her everything then, slowly and carefully. He went at her pace, letting her ask questions when she wanted and answering everything he could. Willow answered what Angel didn't know.

They learned that the clone knew absolutely everything that Buffy knew, and yet she was weaker. If they looked close enough they could tell she was like a different person. It was amazing what the brainwashing had done to her.

And yet, as they watched, months of brainwashing went away under Angel's gentle voice, showing that his link with "Buffy" was as strong as ever. It was suddenly like a part of the clone's brain awoke. She started to remember the things Riley had told her didn't happen. She knew he had done something to her. Any yet, she still couldn't believe quite all of what Angel was saying.

Finally, the clone came down to one simple point. "But Riley loves me. How could he do this to me? I mean, when we made love, he was so..."

At this, Buffy could remain silent no longer. "I HAD SEX WITH RILEY! I had sex. With Riley. EEWWW!"

"Buffy, it wasn't really you, and..." Xander almost had to laugh at her reaction. This was the Buffy he knew and loved.

"I know, but still. EWWWW!" She said, her body shaking just at the thought. "No matter how brainwashed I was, I can't imagine betraying you..." She said to Angel.

"But he left me. Angel didn't love me anymore. Riley knew. He knew that no one else loved me. He was the only one who..." Clone-Buffy almost-whined.

"Stop it!" Buffy yelled. "Riley never loved you. Riley was using you, using us. All he wanted was you under his control so he could use me to find a way to make his precious boys stronger. And I think he wanted a sex-toy while he was at it."

Buffy's clone looked at her with tears in her eyes. "But I love him."

"God, if I ever get like this someone please, please lock me in a room with Angel till I come to my senses." Buffy groaned.

"Okay, you remember everything I do as far as last year and the year before, right?" Buffy asked the clone, trying to be patient.

The Buffy clone only nodded.

"Okay, then let's take a little trip down memory lane." She whispered, kneeling in front of the girl, bringing to the forefront memories she had long since tried to bury. "I love you so much. And I tried to make you go away...I killed you and it didn't help. And I hate it. I hate that it's so hard, and that you can hurt me so much. I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. I wish that..."

"That I wished you dead. I don't. I can't." The clone took over for her.

"Angel, when I look into the future, all I see is you..." Buffy continued, knowing it was working.

"All I want is you." The clone echoed.

Buffy slowly reached behind her clone and undid the chains and ropes that held her. She wanted to show that she trusted her.

"And that part at the end of the night, where we say goodbye..."

"Goodbye, it's getting harder." The clone whispered. She had taken her hands out of the ropes, and yet she just stayed where she was, memories flooding into her. She made no move against anyone.

Buffy continued, almost crying at the memories she was bringing up, "I think horrible is still coming. Right now it's worse. Right now I'm just trying..."

"...to keep from dying. I can't breath, Will. It feels like I can't breath." Both clone and Slayer were crying openly now as they remembered Angel dumping them.

The others watched in shock, yet not even Xander dared to interrupt. It was obvious it was working. It was also obvious just how much Buffy and Angel loved each other.

"How did you find me here?" Buffy whispered.

The clone looked at her a moment in hesitation, then said slowly, "If I was blind I would see you."

"Stay with me." Buffy echoed her words from her dream, smiling at the fact that her clone was speaking Angel's words.

"Forever, that's the whole point. I'll never leave..." She trailed off, unable to finish the statement.

Angel took that as his cue. Although he had no idea where the last few sentences had come from, he recognized all the earlier ones. He bent down next to clone-Buffy, saying gently, "The hands represent friendship. The crown represents loyalty. And the heart, well, you know. Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to someone..."

"Like this." The clone whispered, reaching down to take his hand. She bent down and kissed the claddaugh ring that still faced inward on his finger. "I love you."

Everyone froze as the clone of Buffy whispered those three little words to her Angel.

But she didn't even notice. The clone lowered herself off of the chair and into Angel's arms. He took her and held her gently. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I can't believe what I did...what they made me do..."

"Shhh...it's okay. It's okay honey, it's not your fault." Angel told her as he stroked her hair.

Buffy slowly stood up from where she knelt, moving back from the two who sat on the floor, still locked in each others arms. "God, I can't believe I'm jealous of myself!" She moaned so quietly she didn't think anyone could hear.

But Willow heard her. She stood quietly beside her best friend and answered, "Well, think what it must be like for Angel. He loves you soooo much...And now there's two of you...who love him just as much. He must feel like he's being ripped in two."

Buffy only nodded, realizing what this must be doing to Angel.

It was Angel who pulled away a moment later. He helped the clone to her feet, but stayed where he was, with his arm around her. "Will you help us take down the Initiative?"

Everyone held their breath as they waited for an answer and waited to see if she was un-brainwashed.

"Will you?" Angel asked again.

She looked right into his eyes. "Yes, I will. On one condition."

"What's that?" Buffy asked her.

"I want to kill Riley Finn." The clone replied, hatred in her eyes.

"But a minute ago you said you loved him." Buffy replied, also wondering about the whole 'Slayers don't kill humans' thing.

"That was before I remembered everything. Now that I do I can't believe he did what he did. If it's the last thing I do, I'll kill him. I'll kill him in such a way that he'll wish he never met me."

"Wow. I've never even seen me that mad." Buffy replied, almost in awe at just the tone in her clone's voice. "But…"

"I know what you're thinking." Clone-Buffy turned to face her counterpart. "But he's not human. None of them are, not really. One of the things that makes them so strong is that they inject themselves with demon blood. Over time it's actually started to take them over to the point that they set off my Spidey-sense. So don't worry, I'm not killing humans. Although if Riley was human I'd just make him an exception to the rule."

"Heaven hath no rage, like love to hatred turned." Giles responded.

"Nice little quote there, Wilson."

"I beg pardon?"

"Pop-culture reference. Sorry." Buffy quipped. "Where'd you hear that? It's so perfect."

"It's a quote that Americans seem to only know the last half of."

"And that would be??" Willow questioned.

"Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned." Angel replied softly, looking at the hatred in the clone's eyes.

Everyone knew that Buffy's clone would be a valuable ally in defeating the Initiative.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

About an hour later, they had a plan all worked out and ready to go.

Willow and Cordelia had already left, for their part of it would require the most time. Willow's laptop sat open on Giles' table, beeping away as the program she had set up before she left did its work.

"So, any last questions?" Giles asked, looking around the living room.

"Nope, I think we've all got it. And it's not nearly as crazy as some of the things we've come up with in the past." Buffy said flippantly.

"The only trick is gonna be to make sure all the demons and vampires go down with the place. We can't risk them going free." Angel added.

"Well, the fire's gonna kill all the vamps on the spot." Clone-Buffy said.

"Right, and in the chaos most of the demons will probably end up killing each other or being killed by the Initiative. Or the fire." Xander said.

"And I get to deal with the ones that escape." Buffy said gleefully.

"We get to deal with them." Angel added. "I'm gonna be right out there with you. As well as the other you and Riley."

"Fine. But I get Riley all to myself." Clone-Buffy said angrily.

"I don't even get one punch?" Buffy asked.

"Well, maybe one or two." The clone relented with a smile.

Both Slayers grinned at each other. "Weapons now?"

Giles ignored them. "Xander? Wesley?"

"We're on it G-man." Xander replied as they headed off to raid the near-by army base yet again.

Those who remained at Giles waited about twenty minutes. Based upon how long it would take Buffy and her group to reach campus, that should be enough time for the others to complete their parts of the plan.

"Tara, are you ready?" Giles asked, looking at his watch.

She nodded, already kneeling on the floor. She had the circle and Quarters already called.

"Go."

Tara began to chant.

"Hail Aradia, Queen of all Witches.

Grant me your power tonight.

Help us to fight the good fight.

You know all that we need.

We now ask for you to lead.

Locate for the Slayers one Riley Finn.

Make it so he cannot win.

Whatever price we must pay.

Let fate, goodness, and love triumph today."

She then began to chant in what Buffy thought was Italian. She looked at Giles, asking what exactly was going on.

"Her spell will locate Riley for you. It will also, hopefully, bring Aradia to our side. She's the Witch's Queen, one of the most powerful Goddesses of them all. With her on our side, we will win. Fate, love, and goodness will triumph and bring about the best end result that is possible for everyone who fights for good." Giles told her in a whisper.

"Well, that's great. But how will we..." Clone-Buffy suddenly stopped talking as a ball of light began to glow within Tara's circle.

As the girl continued to chant, it changed in size and shape. Finally, when it was no bigger than a golf ball, Tara stopped chanting. She raised a black-handled knife and made the motion of cutting a square into the air in front of her. The ball of light exited the circle through that square, upon which Tara waved the hilt of the knife over the square, as if closing up a hole she had made. Which, magickally speaking, was exactly what she had done.

The light glowed light green, and suddenly disappeared out the door.

"Follow it!" Giles hissed at the other three who still stood in the room. "It will lead you to Riley. Keep him out of the Initiative! Without their leader there will be chaos. Buffy, Angel, block off as many exits as you can find, and then wait in front of the others.

Nothing must get out alive unless it's human."

"And remember the Initiative boys don't count as human." Clone-Buffy murmured as she stalked out the door.

The light led the Slayers and vampire right unto campus, and then it abruptly disappeared underground.

"Damn it!" Clone-Buffy yelled. "He's in the Initiative!"

Buffy looked at her watch. "Well, we've got about ten minutes to get him out of there before the whole place comes crashing down and we don't get to kill him personally."

"You guys worry about sealing off the exits. There's at least four tunnels that I know of, probably more." Clone-Buffy indicated about where each of them was. "Seal them all. Cause there's probably more that I don't know of for things to escape out of. Worry about those. I'll handle getting Riley out here. Leave this one by me unsealed."

Buffy and Angel nodded and headed off to seal the exits. Clone-Buffy took out a cell phone and dialed Riley's number from memory.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Cordelia sloshed through the muddy land they had just created, complaining under her breath that she should have known not to wear her new shoes to Sunnydale.

"Oh, just hurry up and get over here." Willow yelled. "Did you close it off again once it was finished draining?"

"Yes, I did. And I've got the muddy clothes and shoes and hands to prove it." Cordelia ranted.

"Quit complaining. Get over here and help me pour these in. We've only got five minutes." Willow said, looking at her watch before she lifted the first of the red containers.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Xander and Wesley stood just outside Lowell house, grenades and miniature flame throwers concealed under their large coats. "Three minutes to go." Wesley whispered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Giles knelt on the floor of his living room, a few yards away from Tara.

Tara continued to chant her Aradia spell, which was obviously working based upon the way she glowed with Goddess power. Giles only hoped it was enough to give the others the strength they needed.

Giles himself was casting a different spell. His was for protection, pure and simple. He put all of his energy into it, knowing the extent of the dangers his friends were out there facing.

TBC…

AN: Only one more part to go…


	6. A Brighter Future

_A Different Life_

_By Lady Callista_

Part 6

Buffy and Angel had finished sealing the exits they knew of, and now returned to where they had left clone-Buffy. She was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" Buffy whispered.

"She must have cooked up a plan on her own to get Riley out here." Angel answered.

"You don't think she'd betr..."

Buffy was cut off by the sound of Riley's voice. "Well, what have we here." He held two guns. One was a shock gun and was pointed at Buffy. The other was a crossbow, complete with wooden arrows, which he pointed at Angel. "And what have you two done with my little clone Buffy? She called me up here, said she had you just where I'd want you. What did you do with her?"

Buffy and Angel looked at each other in shock. She had betrayed them!

"We didn't do anything..." Buffy protested.

"Oh, really? Well, in that case, something else must have killed her. She'll have to be replaced of course. And who could do that?" He looked at Buffy with a devilish grin. "Of course, I can't risk your angel still being around to help you."

He raised the crossbow, aiming for Angel's heart.

Buffy was powerless to help Angel. If she moved, she'd be electrocuted, and then she'd be no help to anyone. She had to remain in charge, even if it meant losing Angel. The world depended on her. She remembered why she hated this job as she felt her heart break yet again.

Riley fired.

As Riley fired, Buffy suddenly saw a blur coming at them from the bushes a few feet away.

That blur, it turned out, was clone-Buffy. She hadn't betrayed them!

She pushed Angel out of the way of the arrow, taking it in her own shoulder.

"It's time guys. I'll take care of him, don't worry." She called as she pulled the arrow out of her shoulder, too focused to even feel the pain.

Buffy and Angel nodded and faded away into the night, waiting for the demons that were sure to break out of the Initiative.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Time." Wesley said to Xander.

Xander nodded and led the way into Lowell house. On the way in, he grabbed one of the boys who was just leaving, holding a gun to his head. Xander marched him up to the mirror that hid the doorway into the Initiative. He pressed the button to initiate the retinal scan, moving himself and Wesley out of range. He kept the gun on the unfortunate boy.

"Move and you're dead." He barked, hoping the guy couldn't see in his eyes that there was no way he would kill him like this. Although Xander believed clone-Buffy that the boys were using demon blood which was slowly turning them into demons, he still didn't think he'd be able to just shoot one of them in the head.

The boy obviously didn't, for he stood there and let the beam scan him. He then stepped obediently into the elevator as Wesley and Xander followed. He gave his vocal code and the elevator started down.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Giles continued his protection spell, barely aware of hearing Willow's laptop beeping.

The program that had showed the city's water pipes was no longer on the screen, having been replaced by one that had hacked into the Initiative's main frame.

The computer was following the program the girl had set before leaving, systematically shutting down the Initiative, including the fields to all the monster cages. Just one more thing to add to the panic.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Cordelia glanced at her watch. "The guys should be going in now. Everything should be shut down."

"I know, I know. We're almost done." Willow said hurriedly, holding the last can that they had at an angle, it's clear fluid pouring down into the pipes they had opened and drained of water. Hacking into the city's water system and shutting down all the water mains on this part of campus hadn't been easy, but this was the easiest way to make sure all of the Initiative was destroyed. Assuming it worked.

"This better work." Cordelia unknowingly voiced Willow's thoughts.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clone-Buffy fought with Riley, fighting differently than she ever had in her life. She wasn't trying to kill him or knock him out to capture him. She just wanted him to suffer as much as humanly possible.

She punched and kicked, scratching and gouging whenever possible. All her hatred over what he had done burst over, like a dam breaking. She couldn't stop the flood of emotions. So she fed off them.

Riley never had a chance.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

As the doors to the Initiative opened, Xander struck the boy over the head with the butt of his gun. The unfortunate lad crumpled to a heap at the bottom of the elevator.

Wesley and Xander took several steps forward, pulling out their weapons.

Some of the commandos saw them and began to charge.

Xander pulled the pin on a grenade, tossing it down in their direction. He turned, not wanting to see as the men were blown to pieces.

Just as the grenade blew up, the entire Initiative shut down.

All but the emergency lights went down, all the machines went down, and all the vampires and demons were free. The Initiative men immediately left the two intruders alone, more concerned with the monsters.

Wesley stepped forward then, moving towards several of the desks and workstations that were near him. Bringing his flame-thrower to bear, he quickly set the mass of paper and wood aflame. He did the same to several other areas, starting as large a fire as he could. He then stepped back.

Xander pulled the pins on several more grenades, tossing them as far as he could, trying to set as much of the place ablaze as possible.

They then turned and ran up the emergency stairs, not wanting to see the inevitable.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Outside, vampire and demons as well as Initiative men began to trickle out of the tunnels. Some knew or remembered the way, some followed others blindly, others arrived by a stroke of luck.

But Buffy and Angel were waiting for them.

Every monster that came out of those tunnels was slain before it knew what hit him. The few who came out of unguarded tunnels made it a little further before they were found and killed. Countless more died trying to escape out the tunnels that had been sealed.

Buffy understood immediately what her clone had meant about the Initiative men setting off her spidey-sense. They actually felt like demons to her, and several of them were beginning to show small physical signs of the change that would soon happen. The same was not true of the scientists however, they seemed to be completely human and so neither Slayer nor vampire would kill them, instead allowing them to escape into the night.

Although Buffy worried that they might just return to the government and start a new Initiative somewhere else, she couldn't just kill them.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Inside the Initiative itself, there was nothing but chaos.

Almost half the place was on fire, demons and vampires were everywhere, there was no power, and their leader had vanished.

Forrest ran around madly, trying to give orders and retain some order. But try as he might, he just couldn't do enough. He finally ended up standing against the far wall, and it was then that he noticed a panel on the wall. He looked quickly at the buttons on it, finding and pressing the one he wanted. "Emergency Sprinkler-System Override."

At least he could put out the fire.

He watched as the sprinkler-system came on, knowing the fire would soon be out.

But as he watched the water coming down, he only saw the fire get bigger. Everywhere the water touched the fire would spread to.

He finally took a step forward, letting the liquid run down on him. And then he swore.

Someone had sure planned this well.

The Initiative was a total loss. And so were all of them.

Unknown to him, his eyes glowed red as the fire took him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Outside and above, Willow and Cordelia heard the system come on and saw the fluid they had filled the system with draining away, obviously sprinkling down into the Initiative.

The hurriedly finished tossing the empty kerosene cans back into Xander's mom's van, and then sped off to help Buffy and Angel.

By the time they arrived, the fight was almost over. Buffy and Angel each fought a demon or two yet, but each easily had the advantage over it. The demons were quickly gone.

Willow rushed over to Buffy. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think we got them all. Where's..."

"Buffy!" Angel yelled, seeing the clone fighting in the distance.

Everyone took off.

Clone-Buffy and Riley faced off. Riley was beaten to a fairly bloody pulp, and yet was somehow still on his feet. His eyes glowed slightly red in the night, the viciousness of the fight having cause his demon blood to begin to assert itself.

Buffy finally took pity on him and looked around for her stake, intending to finish him off.

And in the second she turned away, Riley pulled a gun from the back of his pants and pointed it at the clone. "I may die here, but at least I know you're going with me." He said as he fired, managing to hit her in the stomach.

"No…" Clone-Buffy's trailed off as the bullet dropped her to her knees. She felt Riley approaching, and was certain he meant to finish her off.

"NOOOOOO!"

Suddenly a dark form came at him out of nowhere. Riley felt himself propelled backwards, looking up just in time to see a very, very pissed off vampire in full game-face.

Angel reached down and without hesitation snapped Riley's neck.

His face shifted quickly back to normal, and he rushed to the fallen Slayer.

"Buffy? Buffy? Are you okay?" He said, taking the clone in his arms.

Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia watched, to shocked to comment. Wesley and Xander joined them a moment later and stood in shock at the scene before them.

Angel held Buffy's clone in his arms, not noticing anyone but her. "Buffy?" He repeated.

She opened her eyes slowly. They glowed a faint green. So did all of her body, he suddenly noticed. It was the same color as the ball of light that had led them there. It must come from Tara's spell.

"The magick Buffy. It'll make you better." He told her.

"No Angel, it won't." The clone said with closed eyes.

"What do you mean?" He whispered. "Why wouldn't it?"

"The magick isn't helping me." The clone whispered. "It's taking me away."

"Taking you away? Why?" Angel asked her.

"Because that's what we asked Aradia to do." Willow whispered from behind him, realizing their mistake. "When me and Tara wrote the spell, it was to do two things. One, locate Riley for the Slayers. And two, 'Whatever price we must pay. Let fate, goodness, and love triumph today.'"

"How can love triumph if Buffy dies?" Angel whispered, looking down at her.

"Because I'm not really Buffy." The clone whispered, bringing a hand up to run it along his cheek. "I can imagine how hard this must be for you Angel, but remember I'm not really her. I'm just a clone."

"That doesn't make this any easier." Angel said. "It's still watching the love of my life die."

"Angel.."

"You look like her, talk like her, even have a part of her soul. I can feel it in you." Angel continued.

Buffy and her friends watched the scene before them, hearts breaking for Angel.

Buffy understood perfectly. She knew exactly how he felt, because she knew how she'd feel if he were ever dying. Even a clone of him. She didn't think she could differentiate her feelings. It would still be Angel.

"But you're not losing her." Clone-Buffy whispered. "The love of your life is standing behind you."

Angel didn't even turn. "But you're her too."

"But I'm not meant to be here. I shouldn't even exist by all laws of this world. The spell is just nature restoring order." She said slowly, tears trickling down her face. This was obviously hard for her too. Even though she knew that she was a clone, she didn't feel like one. Everything in her cried out that she was Buffy, this was her Angel, and she was dying. She had to keep looking over at Buffy to convince herself of what was right. The green glow around her got brighter, almost too bright to see her. But Angel didn't move.

The others just stared. They couldn't hear what was being said anymore.

"I love you." Angel whispered to her, saying the words now that the clone had said to him earlier.

The clone just nodded. "I love you." She said finally. "But so does Buffy."

"You..."

"Promise me one thing, Angel."

"Anything, love."

"Don't leave her. Ever again."

"I won't." Angel said with certainty. "I couldn't. I won't waste another minute of life, because I know one day this will really be her and I'll stake myself if I haven't spent every possible moment with her before that time."

"You'll probably stake yourself anyway." The clone said with a small grin.

Angel didn't answer. Instead, he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. The kiss continued a moment longer, and then she was gone.

The instant her clone vanished into the green glow, Buffy felt a shock move through her. The light burst through her for a moment, bringing her to her knees.

She suddenly had all of her soul back, and with it came memories. Memories of everything her clone had done and felt and said. Her last moments with Angel... Buffy began to cry then, cry hard. For everything her clone had lost.

Angel turned to face her, still kneeling where the clone had been. They fell into each other's arms, hugging and crying and holding each other. Even though they still had each other, each had suffered a huge loss. Suddenly, through all their grief, they heard a voice that was unfamiliar.

"My children." The voice whispered.

They looked up to see to beautiful woman floating above them, looking like a ghost. "Children, do not be sad."

"Who are you?" Buffy asked.

"You know who I am."

"No we..."

"Yes, I do." Willow spoke suddenly, dropping to her knees. "My Lady." She bowed her head.

"Lady Willow." The form acknowledged one of her priestesses. She then turned to the others present, focusing her attention on Slayer and vampire. "I am Aradia, Queen of all Witches and their magick. I do not normally appear to mortals, but you are a special case."

"My Lady." Angel echoed Willow, bowing his head. After a moment's hesitation, Buffy followed his lead. Their other friends did likewise.

"I come for three reasons. One is that your magick summoned me and I was honored to help such a worthy cause. I gave all the magickal aid I could to you tonight. Anyone who tortures and performs tests on living beings...even if the beings are inherently evil..." Aradia trailed off sadly, knowing the men of the Initiative had created their own fate.

"The second was to unmake the clone of the Slayer. It took magick to steal a part of the Slayer's soul and give the clone life, and the loss of even a part of her soul would have killed her eventually. It needed to be returned. I am sorry for the pain of the loss." She said to Angel. "But remember that she is not truly dead, for all that was her is now back in the Slayer, where it belongs."

"What about me?" Buffy whispered.

"You will learn to live with the memories of your different life. Parts of them may even bring you joy one day, for they are for the most part more pleasant than your own memories of the time period in question." Aradia spoke softly, her voice like the wind. Yet all could hear her easily.

Buffy and Angel both nodded, things falling into perspective.

"Rise now, my warriors." Aradia whispered.

Buffy and Angel stood hesitantly, still facing the ground.

"Look upon my face."

Both heads slowly raised, doing what they had both wanted to do since she appeared but would not have dared to do without her asking.

"The third reason I am here is as a messenger of my sister of the skies, Aphrodite."

"Goddess of love..." Buffy whispered.

"Yes, daughter, the Goddess of love. She has been watching you two for some time now. And after all you have been through, she believes that your love is pure. It is one of the most true loves she has ever encountered, or so she tells me."

Buffy took Angel's hand in her own small one, her eyes never straying from the Goddess. She knew, or at least hoped she knew, what was coming.

"We cannot afford to lose a warrior from our cause, as happened before. So we cannot make Angel totally human. But we can come very close." The Goddess spoke happily. "Angel, you will still have your strength, agility, and healing abilities. Those are the only qualities you will retain. In all other aspects, you are now human."

"Human?" Angel whispered in wonder. He felt his heart beating again. It felt no less wonderful than when it had happened all those months ago.

"Is he still immortal?" Buffy whispered.

"No my child. He will age, just as you do. You can grow old together."

Buffy stood shocked a moment, feeling all her hopes and dreams coming true. Angel was human, yet had the strength needed to fight and back her up. He wouldn't have to watch her grow old and die while he remained unchanged, he would age with her. There was nothing that stood between her and her love. Buffy's joy bubbled over. She took a step forward, thinking to embrace Aradia in a huge hug of thanks. She remembered a second later who she was dealing with and stepped back, saying, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It is all right my child." Aradia whispered, holding her ethereal arms out to the Slayer.

Buffy stepped forward and hugged her, surprised to feel the touch of warm flesh on her own. She was amazed by the feelings of love and peace that overwhelmed her.

When the Goddess released her a moment later, Angel stepped closer to her, taking her hand. Aradia reached up and stroked his face for a moment, then turned to wipe a tear from Buffy's face.

"Give Aphrodite our thanks." Angel said.

Aradia nodded. "Be happy." She whispered.

"Continue to walk in my ways, young one." Aradia said as she turned to Willow. "Keep your heart pure."

"Hail and farewell, my Queen." Willow responded.

Aradia vanished in a flash of pale green light.

Buffy and Angel looked at each other and grinned. Then they came together in an earth-shattering kiss, warm bodies pressing against each other.

"I love you." Each whispered into the other's soul.

Then they turned to their friends and they all headed away from this place of death.

The sun rose upon them and smiled down on them all, beginning the first day of the rest of their lives.

**THE END**

* * *

AN: Thanks to all who stayed with me till the end, I hope you enjoyed it.

Also, I'm aware the thing with draining water from a system and filling it with kerosene isn't all that plausible, but technically I think it is actually possible. If not, oh well, it's fiction.

Also, when I originally wrote the story, I didn't have the Initiative guys using demon blood and slowly becoming demons, so I just had them escape the Initiative. But then I realized that there was no way they'd all get out, plus demons and such would kill some of them, and I didn't really want Buffy and co. to be responsible for that many human deaths. And I really wanted to kill Riley, and in fact did in the original story, but then that means clone-Buffy killed a human, and I didn't really like that she did that. So this is my easy answer. They're all turning into demons. They are demonic and must be killed.

And as promised, here's the challenge this story was written to answer. The fact that I had to follow it is why the story's style is different from most of my other stories, and why certain things happen like they do.

CutiePieGirl155's challenge:

Willow and Tara somehow discover that the Buffy they're with is really a clone that the Initiative made. She was taken after Thanksgiving. The real Buffy is trapped in the Initiative and is being tortured for information.

Must have…

1)Willow calling Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley for help

2)The Scooby gang insulting Riley

3)Riley trying to stop the rescue and real Buffy smacking him in the head with a pipe Disturbing behavior style

4)Buffy saying about her otherself "I HAD SEX WITH RILEY! I had sex. With Riley. EEWWW!'

5)Buffy and Angel get back together

6)B/A fluff (smut is optional, hell it's encouraged)

7)Willow or Tara using magick to have a goddess help the group


End file.
